1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device including a bonding pad.
2. Description of the Related Art
As illustrated in FIG. 6, a related-art semiconductor device has the following structure in the vicinity of a bonding pad. Specifically, an insulating film 201 is formed on a semiconductor substrate 101, and a bonding pad 301 is formed on the insulating film 201 with a top wiring layer. Dummy wiring 302 is formed in the vicinity of the bonding pad 301 via a gap. A passivation film 401 for protecting the semiconductor device is formed to have a thickness equal to or larger than a thickness of the bonding pad 301. An opening portion 501 for connecting a bonding wire to the bonding pad 301 is formed on the bonding pad 301 to expose a surface of the bonding pad 301 (for example, see Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 05-226339).
It has been known that, in order to prevent a passivation film from cracking by a stress caused during wire bonding or a thermal stress, the strength of a passivation film formed in the vicinity of a bonding pad is increased, thereby enabling cracks in the passivation film to be suppressed.
However, the strength of the passivation film is lowered when the passivation film has a thickness smaller than a thickness of a bonding pad, with the result that the passivation film may crack due to wire bonding or by a thermal stress.